A freelance journalist working for Russian state newspaper Izvestia has been killed in a drone strike near the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, according to the publication.

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Izvestia claimed that the attack targeted a civilian vehicle on a highway within a Russian-occupied area. Their correspondent Alexander Martemyanov and five other media workers were injured in the incident.

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“The Ukrainian army launched a drone strike on a civilian car carrying Izvestia's freelance correspondent Alexander Martemyanov,” the outlet wrote on its Telegram channel. They added that the car was “far from the line of contact.” 

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The news outlet, which has been blocked by the European Union for allegedly spreading Russian propaganda, said that the vehicle was returning from reporting on shelling in the Russian-held city of Gorlivka when it was hit.

Russian officials have accused Ukraine’s military of deliberately targeting Martemyanov, describing the attack as an “inhuman terrorist act.” In a statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said, “Without a doubt, media representatives were deliberately chosen as targets for a deadly attack. This is also evidenced by the testimonies of those who survived the attack.”

The ministry further called the killing “yet another brutal crime in a series of bloody atrocities committed by the Zelensky regime, which openly resorts to terrorist methods to eliminate its ideological opponents.”

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'All guilty will be brought to inevitable punishment': Russia

Moscow has called on international organisations, including UNESCO, to respond to the incident. “We demand that yet another brutal murder of a Russian war correspondent receive an appropriate response from Audrey Azoulay (UNESCO head), as prescribed by her mandate,” said Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry. 

Zakharova criticised UNESCO for failing to acknowledge Russian journalists who have been killed. She claimed that a recent draft report by the organisation’s Director-General on journalist safety lacked any mention of Russian media reporters who have died. She accused UNESCO of being complicit in “terrorist attacks” through “political distortions and statistical manipulations.”

“All those guilty of the crime against Russian journalists will be identified and brought to inevitable punishment,” Zakharova added.

(With inputs from agencies)